Bangalore, 03 July (H.S.) : India has become 'self-reliant' through domestic manufacturing, job creation, economic self-reliance and has been empowered by the government's ambitious Production Linked Incentive (PLI) scheme for the past decade.

PLI has played a major role in the emergence of 'Make in India' on a global scale. As a result, India is on track to emerge as a major technological and economic power in the world in the future.

As per the Sadhana Parva of 'Make in India', in just five to six years, India has invested ₹1.76 lakh crore through 14 PLI projects, achieved a manufacturing capacity worth ₹16.5 lakh crore. It has also created more than 12 lakh jobs and taken a new step in economic growth along with industrial security.

As the first step towards a 'self-reliant India', the Production Linked Incentive Scheme (PLI) launched by the Central Government in 2020 has not only paved the way for the country's industrial growth but also given a boost to the country's economic progress. It is expected to increase the incentive amount along with further investment in the next 5 years.

The central government has already disbursed an incentive amount of ₹21,534 crore to 12 different sectors under PLI schemes. It is providing necessary incentives and promoting sectors like food processing, electronics manufacturing, IT hardware, pharmaceuticals, technical equipment, automobiles, steel, textile industry, drone technology, etc.

3.4 lakh jobs in the food sector: The food sector in India has seen tremendous growth. An investment of ₹9,032 crore has been made in the food manufacturing sector, generating a turnover of ₹3.8 lakh crore. More than 3.4 lakh jobs have been created in this sector alone.

It has also provided greater support to the domestic consumption of agricultural products and has also helped in increasing the income of farmers. There are 70 MSMEs and more than 40 commissioned manufacturers directly registered under the PLI scheme. Many of the major beneficiaries are contract manufacturers for large companies, giving a new lease of life to small enterprises.

Millet product doubles: Since the launch of the PLI Millet scheme, the country's sales of millet-based products have increased by 25 times. While 4,081 metric tonnes of millet were purchased in 2023, it has increased to 16,130 metric tonnes in 2025. This is bringing direct benefits to local farmers. Similarly, sales of value-added marine products are also growing at an annual rate of 22%. This is positioning India as a global manufacturing leader.

Tsunami in Pharma, Electronics Sectors: The pharmaceutical sector has achieved high growth. In the first three years of the implementation of PLI, a turnover worth ₹2.66 lakh crore was done, and exports worth ₹1.70 lakh crore were done. In 2024-25 alone, exports worth ₹0.67 lakh crore were done, accounting for 27% of the country's total exports.

Various medical companies have invested ₹15,102 crore in research and development of pharmaceutical products, which has increased the domestic value in this sector by 83.7%. On the other hand, India has now emerged as an exporter of bulk drugs. The country, which was importing bulk drugs worth ₹1,930 crore in 2022, has now shown an impressive performance to the extent of exporting products worth ₹2,280 crore.

Increase in fiber and textile exports: With the help of the PLI scheme, India's fiber products exports have reached $6 billion in 2024-25. Similarly, the textile industry has also seen progress, with India's textile exports reaching $3.3 billion in 2025, up from $2.9 billion in 2023-24.

PLI is a source of inspiration for domestic industry: These PLI schemes of the central government have been successful in providing financial strength to small, medium and large enterprises, and India is set to take this success to another level in the future. Along with attracting new investments, it is emphasizing domestic production, job creation and economic self-reliance.

Hindusthan Samachar / Rakesh Mahadevappa